I’ve seen a lot of bigman prospects go through the NBA, and I think I can now say what the most important attribute for a bigman to have is, if they want to be successful in the NBA. Actually, there’s two:
1. Have the longest arms possible
2. Be able to catch a basketball
The unsaid one that should go before the first attribute is “be big” but I assumed that every bigman was going to check that box. But those two I stated are the most important. Everything else can come later. Literally everything else. Every “skill”, like running or breathing or shooting, as long as the player has long arms that can corral a ball, I want him on my team.
I’m thinking about Montrezl Harrell when thinking about this. He’s short, practically a midget, but he’s got ridiculously long arms that allow him to do things that others can’t. And if you want a rebound, he’ll grab it. He’ll grab your pick-and-roll pass in traffic and dunk it without even trying. And then add his skills like shooting fadeaway jumper in a Dirk-esque manner? You’ve got a beast on your hands.